Page 250 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London
P. 250
A wood figure of Guanyin seated on a Buddhist lion, late
15th – 16th century; image courtesy of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York
The Property of a Gentleman 紳士藏品
226W This lot is accompanied by a report from Laboratory Ralf Kotalla and
A carved wooden figure of Guanyin the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, which states that
Probably 15th century on the basis of standard methods and techniques used in the 14
The Goddess of Mercy carved from a single piece of wood with C-AMS process, the age of the sample is calculated as AD 1450-
serene expression and blue-lacquered hair beneath a five-peaked 1455 with a probability of 68.2%.
Buddhist tiara containing the Amitabha Buddha, the hair tied in two Ralf Kotalla實驗室及蘇黎世聯邦理工學院的報告指出，經過標準的14
knots falling over the shoulders, the long robes falling open to reveal C-AMS技術測試，此拍品的樣本有百分之68.2的可能性屬於1450至
the chest adorned with tasselled jewellery, the goddess seated with 1455年間。
left knee raised on the back of a recumbent Buddhist lion with its Guanyin is a form of the Bodhisattva of Compassion or
head raised to look up devotedly at the deity. Avalokiteshvara, and was usually depicted in a feminised form
140cm (55in) high during and after the 12th century. In her present incarnation, seated
£60,000 - 80,000 in lalitasana or royal ease on top of a roaring lion, she is known
HK$750,000 - 1,000,000 CNY590,000 - 790,000 as the ‘Guanyin of the Lion’s Roar’ and symbolises the deity’s
intense moment of transcendent understanding, when she acquired
或十五世紀 木雕觀音坐像 supernatural wisdom.
Provenance: a European private collection Compare a similar Ming dynasty statue in the Metropolitan Museum
來源：歐洲私人收藏 of Art, New York, ref.number 2000.270, and another related wooden
figure sold at Christie’s Paris, 11 June 2008, lot 291.
246 | Bonhams
